It's winter in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. For those of on the outskirts of Seattle that means, well, rain. More accurately it means a heavy mist usually, but it has been actual rain lately. I've been riding inside more frequently, in fact mostly for a couple months now. Strava has a some interesting things about it though. There are the obvious things, tracking your activities, comparing todays results to days gone by. It also let's you connect with riders from around the world, friends you've lost track of and even the odd professional.
Couple things it's done for me is kept me riding even though it's wet outside, it may be inside but I'll churn out some miles. Couple things have changed this year though. A friend from Jr. HS rides all the time, we never really rode together, he's just enough older than me that at 15 I would have been humiliated trying to keep up. He lives about 40 miles from me, I drove down to ride with him last summer, and I should do it again. He's still better than me but I can mostly keep up. The other thing is that I somehow found some people from the town in Sweden where my great grandfather was born. I started following them, and it's a little humiliating, not the times or the power output, but the commitment to exercising and getting out doors. Some of them are out riding in the snow, their walking in the snow, XC skiing and riding on the trainer.
The Interurban ride was a commitment to getting outside more. I'd like to get some skiing in myself, but I'm not so sure about going out by myself. We'll have to see what I can manage. I have the gear for riding in the rain, when I commuted to work I needed it, I should use it.
